watchOS 7.4 beta 4 release has the iPhone mask unlock option

Photo by Luke Chesser/Unsplash

Apple has just rolled out the latest beta releases for most of its major platforms, including beta 4 for watchOS 7.4 and iOS 14.5. This update brings the ability to use your Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone while you're wearing a mask.

For public beta testers and developers, you can now try this feature out. The Apple Watch needs to be nearby or on your wrist as well as unlocked and protected by a passcode for this feature to work. And you'll need to have iOS 14.5 on your iPhone, too. 

9to5Mac points out that if you unlock your Apple Watch with your iPhone using Face ID before putting on a mask, you can skip the step of entering a passcode on either device.

watchOS 6 uncouples Apple’s wearable with the iPhone

A common theme that seems to be running at WWDC 2019 is Apple unbundling a lot of its devices’ reliance on each other. With the iPad getting its own operating system of sorts, watchOS 6 is introducing some new features that will make the Apple Watch a bit more independent from the iPhone. The apps on the wearable can now be run locally without having a companion app installed on a paired iPhone. There are new apps being introduced including audiobooks, voice memos, and a calculator. New APIs will let apps stream audio directly to the watch. watchOS 6 will also make it possible to read data for longer periods than before. This new version of watchOS will also bring an actual App Store where you can browse, pay, and download apps right on the watch.

On a cosmetic level, there are new watchfaces to choose from. There are also new health features you might find useful. watchOS 6 can track your hearing health in noisy environments and track a woman’s cycle right from the watch. iPhone users will also get this feature within the Health app (without needing the Apple Watch). This version of watchOS is coming to developers this week with a public launch set this fall. All Apple Watch models will get the new OS update, but not all features will make it to all versions.

Source: The Verge

Mac, iOS and Apple Watch users get a trifecta of software updates

Apple's quietly rolled out software updates to OS X El Capitan, iOS 9 and Watch OS today. The updates bring a lot of improvements, fix bugs and improve the compatibility of these operating systems with various third-party apps.

OS X 10.11  for El Capitan gets bug fixes and improvements related to Office 2016 which has been quite problematic, Mail, VoiceOver also get updates and Apple's released more than 150 new emoji characters including some for tacos and the much anticipated middle finger emoji.

For iOS 9.1, Live Photos functionality on the iPhone 6S with motion sensing capability that avoids recording Live Photos when the iPhone is moving, we also get new wallpapers incliuding Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. It is has been noted that this release is in preparation for AppleTV (coming next week) and the iPad Pro (November).

For WatchOS 2.0.1, focus is on a fix for an issue that could cause software updates to stall. Fixes for issues that were impacting battery performance. A resolution for an issue that could prevent a managed iPhone from syncing iOS Calendar events to Apple Watch. All of these updates are available via Software Update right now.

IDC: Android Wear market share expected to double by 2019

Health trackers have been popular because they focus on a singular feature, which is to track health and fitness.Smart watches have been the more elusive market because a) they are more expensive and b) marketed as fashion accessories makes them subjective.

IDC believes that Android Wear, Google's wearable fork of their mobile operating system, will double in market share by 2019. While Android Wear has been around for over a year in various devices, it has just recently exploded in the number of OEMs that are keen on making hardware to run on Google's OS.

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